Life is Transformative

Sears Point, California, USA

"Happiness is a function of accepting what is."

I am indebted to Chris Lacey who inspired this conversation.

So.

THIS ... is ... it ...

Life's turned out. It's turned out this way. It didn't turn out any other way. It didn't turn out the way you want it to. It didn't turn out the way you need it to. It didn't turn out the way you hope it would. It didn't turn out the way you wish it would. It didn't turn out the way you pray it would. It simply turned out the way it turned out.

Black Stallion, Napa Valley, California, USA

Captain of the Ship, Stagecoach Driver, Rider on the Range, F15 Jet Pilot, Source of Thought, Initiator of Initiators, Creator of Creativity: what qualifications are required of me to serve you?

St Helena, California, USA

I was waiting on you. But my life got in the way.

Looking for a time to meet, you were open, I had prior commitments. No problem, I thought, I'll look at a new date.

Not so fast ... My "no problem" is a problem. Aghast, I notice my commitments get between you and I being together.

Cowboy Cottage, East Napa, California, USA

You held my hand in a dream. You reached over and took it. And held it. Just like that.

All the people standing around saw you do it. They wondered why. They wondered about the connection. They didn't get it. They thought it inappropriate.

Yet you don't let go.

When you hold my hand I swim, cleansed by the yes of real love. I calm down. The frantic melts. Then dreaming on, I breathe relaxing into comfortable sighing.

Rocky Point, California, USA

This essay, More Magnificent Than This, is the companion piece to Nepenthe.

I am indebted to Belva Shadwell who inspired this conversation.

In our day to day listening, it's possible the difference between beauty and magnificence is so arbitrary it's futile to belabor it. Yet bringing this distinction forth is crucial in the context of this conversation. Doing so gives me a platform, a launching pad, a springboard from which I can say what I've noticed about magnificence.

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
October 28, 2007

I am indebted to Victoria Hamilton-Rivers who contributed material for this conversation.

It's universal behavior: when we human beings have issues to resolve which concern us, we discuss them. We analyze them in therapy. We atone for them in the confessional. With good-listening friends we talk them through. We debate and confer about them - in huddles, in pow-wows, in the boardroom, in parliament, in the United Nations.

Carmel By The Sea, California, USA

This essay, Clearing, is the companion piece to

* Zen And Werner's Work
* Gaping Holes

"Experience is merely evidence I am here."*

The Ink House, St Helena, California, USA

Like potters' clay, we're thrown to be distracted by and to brood over our internal states. That thrown-ness by definition keeps transformation at bay. By "internal states" I'm alluding to (for want of better words) our emotions, our feelings, our opinions.

Carmel By The Sea, California, USA

This essay, Free, is the companion piece to Give It Away.

I am indebted to Sheila Providenza and to Ingerlil Teute who inspired this conversation.

Arguably the most commonly asked class of questions is "Why?" questions, questions seeking an explanation. Just as arguably, although "Why?" questions have an impact interimly, they don't have any real power ultimately.

Diamond Oaks, Oakville, California, USA

The world wide web. The internet. It's a medium unlike any other. Available 24/7/365, items published to the internet are always available, always out there, all the time. What's written to the internet has the potential to be read by millions and millions if not billions of people.